1. Field
The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for locating information contained in disparate online forums.
2. Description of Related Art
Online forums are an increasingly popular tool for exchanging current news and opinions, and for social networking. As used herein, an “online forum” is a computer-implemented system or object that receives data input transmitted from multiple clients operated by individual users, aggregates the incoming data into a forum data object having an organized display format showing the input data optionally associated with an identifier for the contributing user, and posts or transmits the forum data object in response to newly received incoming data so that the forum data object is accessible to the multiple participating clients and is continually updated with new submissions. In the forum context, to “post” means to publish in the forum. Examples of online forums include computer bulletin boards, online chat rooms, and web blogs such as are implemented using Internet technology and IP-addressed forum data objects. Further examples include proprietary technology systems that utilize dedicated client software in combination with a network host to create a social networking environment as a form of on-line game, such as, for example, Second Life™, Utherverse™, Xbox Live™ and others.
When selecting an online forum to participate in out of many possible forums of interest, users may employ a search engine to identify forums that match specified criteria. However, existing search engine technology cannot directly identify forums in which activity is currently highest, or in which activity is highest at particular times of day in a repeated pattern. Such activity information may be of interest to many users, for use in selecting forums to participate in, for use in scheduling activities to take place in forums, or both. However, present search engines do not capture or display activity information for use in comparing and selecting forums of interest. Such information is not readily apparent to existing search methods, despite its potential value. Technology to bridge this gap would be desirable.